Henry weed



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicEe HENRY WEED, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MODE OF CONSTBUCTING WIRE BONNET-FRAMES.

Specicaton of Letters Patent No. 11,186, dated .Tune 27; 1854.

' To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, HENRY VVEED, of

Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia i proved mode of forming wire frames for bonnets, by which I accomplish the reduction of the cost and produce wire frames of a lnore uniform size and shape. This I effect by placing perpendicularpins or stays on a plate or board, in suitable positions for the design or` form required, and aro-und which the wire is wound and thereby formed.

Vire frames for bonnets have been` `termed heretofore, by bending` the wire which generally has to be doubled) by hand, and stitched on buclram orstiened cloth, that has the design marked thereon. While fixed to the buckram suitable cross stays (also made of wire and formed by hand) are stitched firmly to the frame for the purposeof securing the parts together. The thread which secures the wire frame to the buckram is then cut and drawn out.

` Thebending of the wire (which is covered by silk or otherthread) is avery difficult operation, even tothose who may have had considerable experience in the business. By the use`of my improved apparatus any person who can use a thread and needle may make a merchantable bonnet frame, in` much` less time and with greater accuracy, than" could be done by the old process.

A represents a board or plate having a number of perpendicular pins or stays B fixed thereon. The position of said pins or stays B depends altogether upon the size and shape of the frame required. i The wire D is first cut the proper length, then doubled, and `wound around the outside of the pins B (which form the large semicircle) and then around the top of pins B which form the lesser semicircle, (as indicated by blue lines on the drawing), and rests in. grooves or spaces formed on the sides and tops of said pins B. The wire D is thereby brought to the required form. The cross-stay wire C is then woundaround the topoil said pins B and crossed over from o-ne semicircle to the other, and is then secured to the wire D first formed by stitching them together. The wire ,frame may then be taken off the pins B, and will retain its shape.

By the above described means, any nun ber of wire frames' for bonnets can be "formed precisely the same shape and size.

rIhe pins or stays B may be fixed permanently to the plate A, or they maybe so arranged that they maybe adjusted, so that the size and shape of the wire frames may be varied at pleasure.

` Having now fully described the nature of my invention and explained the mode ofoperation, what `I `claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is rIhefmethod herein described of forming wire frames `for bonnets, viz. by winding the wire around pins or stays, or their equivalents arranged substantially as described on a plate or board thereby securing uniformity and exactness, in every particular, as specified.' i

' HENRY WEED.

Witnesses:

. GtEo. W WILLIAMS,

JAMES ECOLES. j 

